Halle Berry's 'Cloud Atlas' crashes at the box office

HALLE BERRY as Meronym and TOM HANKS as Zachry in the epic drama “CLOUD ATLAS,” distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures and in select international territories.

When the trailer for the big budget sci-fi fantasy Cloud Atlas hit the web, many film fans thought it had the potential to be comeback vehicle for its Oscar-winning star Halle Berry.

But it appears that mixed reviews and general confusion about the movie‘s premise have brought the project’s momentum to a screeching halt.

Cloud Atlas, which also starred Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant and many other notable actors, bombed at the box office this weekend, earning just $9.4 million in theaters, which failed to top the third weekend of Ben Affleck’s hit thriller Argo. It even opened below Tyler Perry’s flop Alex Cross, which earned just over $11 million in its debut.

The film also marked the latest dud on former box office titan Hanks’ resume. Although he was arguably the biggest draw of the 1990s and early 2000s, Hanks’ last three films have all performed poorly financially.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Cloud Atlas had a budget of over $100 million; though its studio, Warner Brothers, shared the bulk of the costs with an international distributor, neither will likely see a profit.